In Pics: Ireland 32 South Africa 15 (1)

12 November 2006 13:30pm

Click here for photos from only Ireland's third ever international win over South Africa.

Pictured above: The scene at Lansdowne Road before the opening match of Ireland's Guinness Autumn Test Series. Tries from wingers Andrew Trimble and Shane Horgan, flanker David Wallace and prop Marcus Horan saw the Irish to only their third win over the Springboks in 18 meetings.

Andrew Trimble is tackled by 'Boks debutant Bevin Fortuin as he gets over the line for Ireland's opening try, five minutes in. The 22-year-old Trimble, however, was forced off with a tight hamstring in the second half and may miss next weekend's clash with Australia.

Trimble, seen here celebrating with Brian O'Driscoll, romped over for his try after taking a lovely pop pass from Ronan O'Gara. The Ulster flyer said afterwards: "When you're playing South Africa in front of a packed house at Lansdowne Road, there is no way you are not going to enjoy it.

"The way we played in the first half was unreal. We produced some quality rugby and everybody was enjoying themselves."

O'Driscoll and Trimble are surely two of the most deadly backs in world rugby. Between them, the pair have now scored 33 tries in 78 Test matches. O'Driscoll remains Ireland's record try scorer with 28, with his Leinster team-mate Denis Hickie, who has been called up as precautionary cover for Trimble for the Australian game, behind him on 25.

The usually mild-mannered Trimble lets go of his emotions as he celebrates in front of the South Terrace at Lansdowne Road. It is almost a year to the day that the Ballymena clubman made his debut for Ireland as a centre in the 30-14 defeat to Australia at headquarters.

Bryan Habana and Pierre Spies combine to dump Ireland winger Shane Horgan in a tackle. Thanks to his score on Saturday, Horgan has joined Brendan Mullin on 17 tries in the list of Ireland's all-time top try scorers, meaning the Drogheda man is now joint-third behind his Leinster colleagues Denis Hickie (25) and Brian O'Driscoll (28).

Horgan said after the South African game: "That performance from us was definitely up there, but we're not the finished article. There's a long way to go for this team. We gave away points in the second half which we shouldn't have done and we had opportunities to score more tries.

"We had a good win but we have set the bar high for ourselves. It's a starting block."

Ireland lock Paul O'Connell is right in the thick of the action as he competes for possession with South African trio Danie Rossouw, Albert van den Berg and Juan Smith.

Irish skipper Brian O'Driscoll lays the ball off under pressure from Francois Steyn and Jean de Villiers. O'Driscoll is closing in on Kevin Maggs' record as Ireland's most-capped centre. The South African game took O'Driscoll's caps tally to 68, just two behind the Ulster-contracted Maggs.

Juan Smith can only look on as flanker David Wallace races in from the right wing to touch down behind the posts for Ireland's second try. Wallace's Munster team-mate Ronan O'Gara dubbed the try: "the best try we have scored, maybe, in the last five or six years." Denis Leamy, Trimble, Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy and Horgan were all involved in the build-up to the score.

Andrew Trimble is tackled to ground by South African centre Jean de Villiers. The Stormers midfielder, 25, bounced back from sustaining a rib injury against Scotland in June to play a leading role in the 'Boks' last three games in 2006 Tri-Nations campaign, which saw them claim home wins over both New Zealand and Australia.

Lock Paul O'Connell, seen here being tackled by Juan Smith, wants Ireland to keep Saturday's victory in perspective as attention turns to this week's visit of the Wallabies to Dublin.

The Munster captain said: "Look at what England did when they won the World Cup - they developed the habit of beating these Southern Hemisphere teams. They learned how to do it and got the experience of doing it. That's what we are trying to do.

"Next week is massive for us, that we do something again. This (win over South Africa) was one of our best performances but we have to keep it in perspective. The Australian game will be very different. Australia are, in my opinion, the best defensive team in the world."

Ronan O'Gara is confronted by a bandaged Ricky Januarie. Irish out-half O'Gara, 29, put his mark all over Saturday's Test with his excellent distribution and assured kicking but in the aftermath, he was still wrankled by a missed tackle.

The Corkman said: "Australia beat us last time, but that was at the end of our season. We're fresh now and looking forward to it. We'e definitely on the right road, but next Sunday will be a different kettle of fish again.

"There's a few of us a small bit disappointed with the fact that we gave South Africa two soft scores. I missed a terrible tackle on (Jean) de Villiers and that's my abiding memory of this game. That's just me because I'm very hard on myself. I've always backed myself, and I just have to show the consistency against the top teams."

The countdown is on to the Women's Sevens Dublin tournament in UCD on August 22-23. Anthony Eddy, IRFU Director of Rugby Sevens & Women's Rugby, previews what promises to be an exciting couple of days.

Tickets for the tournament start at 5 euro, with children free, and are available to buy here - http://www.ticketmaster.ie/Womens-Sevens-Series-tickets/artist/2134381?tm_link=artist_artistvenue_module.

Jenny Murphy talks about the progress made by the Ireland Women's Sevens team and their pool draw for the upcoming Women's Sevens Dublin tournament in UCD on August 22-23.

Tickets for the tournament start at 5 euro, with children free, and are available to buy here - http://www.ticketmaster.ie/Womens-Sevens-Series-tickets/artist/2134381?tm_link=artist_artistvenue_module.

Conor Murray and Tommy Bowe speak to Irish Rugby TV about their Rugby World Cup preparations and thank the thousands of supporters who came out to see the players at the open training session at the Sportsground.

Ireland captain Paul O'Connell gives his verdict on the team's new Rugby World Cup jersey and talks about his move to French club Toulon. Ireland's RWC 2015 range is available to pre-order now from http://shop.irishrugby.ie.

Anthony Eddy, IRFU Director of Rugby Sevens, talks about the target of a top three finish for both the Ireland Men and Women in Lisbon this weekend, as they continue on their quests for Olympic qualification.

Tom Daly, who recently captained the Ireland Men's Sevens team to the European Division C and B titles, is looking forward to playing in this weekend's Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage tournament in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ireland will host the 'Women's Sevens Dublin' at UCD on Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23. Tournament director Garrett Tubridy and Ireland stars Lucy Mulhall, Jenny Murphy and Louise Galvin speak about their excitement ahead of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series qualifier.

Coach Allen Clarke and stand-in captain Billy Holland answer questions from the media following Emerging Ireland's 45-12 victory over Georgia in the final round of their successful Tbilisi Cup campaign.

Emerging Ireland coach Allen Clarke speaks about his side's five-try 33-7 win over Uruguay in the Tbilisi Cup and the first half injury to captain Rhys Ruddock. They wrap up the tournament against hosts Georgia on Sunday.

Speaking about the floods that occurred following the Tbilisi Cup's first round, Emerging Ireland team manager Joey Miles said: "A natural event like that, a tragedy like that puts the game of rugby into perspective. We express our regrets to the Georgian people and the Georgian Union for the terrible tragedy that they had."

David O'Reilly from the IRFU Charitable Trust's Corporate Patrons Committee speaks about the new scheme which provides businesses with unique networking opportunities and provides a platform for companies to effectively activate their CSR programmes. For further information, please contact Linda Black of the Charitable Trust - telephone (01) 6473866 or email: linda.black@irfu.ie / http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/34728.php.